I have been cooking a lot of brisket lately. Â It is my favorite bbq meat. Â I guess I am a Texan at heart. Â However, I have been cooking a standard competition style brisket in order to perfect my craft. Â But sometimes you just want to cook something different. Â So I decided I should try a salt and pepper Texas Brisket Wrapped in Butcher Paper. Â I developed a basic rub and cooked the Brisket over oak. Â The traditional Texas smoking wood.
Texas Brisket Wrapped in Butcher Paper
Add the rub ingredients into a bowl and mix. Â Set aside. Â Make sure to weigh the ingredients. Â As you want equal parts salt and pepper by weight not volume.
Mix 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce with 3 cups of water in a spray bottle. Â Shake well. Â Set aside.
Trim the brisket removing most of the thick fat around the point. Â Then trim the fat cap so that it is about 1/4 inch thick.
Lightly dust the brisket with the rub. Â Trust me a little goes a long ways. Â Let the brisket sit out and come up in temperature while you get your smoker to 225 degrees.
Once your smoker gets to 225 degrees add the brisket.
Spritz the brisket with the Worcestershire sauce mixture every 30-45 minutes.
Once the brisket develops a nice dark bark it is time to wrap. Â I found that this occurs somewhere in the 165-180 degree range. Â This occurred about 8 hours into the cook. Â It varies each and every time that I do it. Â Basically you want a nice bark that has a nice dark color. Â Something that screams eat me!
Wrap the brisket in about 6-8 feet of butcher paper. Â Make sure that the paper is not coated or waxed. Â You want to use clean butcher paper that is not treated in any way, shape or form. Â I found a nice roll of butcher paper at Sam’s Club. You can pick this stuff up at most big box stores or restaurant supply stores.
Once the brisket is wrapped, place it back on the smoker until the brisket is probe tender. Â Basically you can slide a skewer easily through the brisket without any resistance. Â This occurred about 3-4 hours after I wrapped the brisket.
When the brisket is ready, remove it from the smoker. Â You will see that the paper absorbed some moisture but most of the moisture is in the brisket.
Basically the paper absorbed the moisture that would have made the bark soggy. Â The bark is amazing when you cook this way.
Slice the flat against the grain and then turn to a 45 degree angle and slice the fatty portion. Â Remember the fatty portion’s grain runs perpendicular to the flat portion’s grain.
This was by far the best brisket that I have ever cooked. Â It was tasty, tender and downright delicious. Â Dana agreed and basically called all of my other briskets OK. Â Thanks Dana.
The salt and pepper created a nice bark, the Worcestershire spritz enhanced the beef flavor and kept the meat moist and the butcher paper kept the bark crisp while keeping in all of the moisture. Â If you haven’t cooked a brisket like this you have to.
- 1 packer brisket
- 1/2 to 1 cup Salt and Pepper Brisket Rub see recipe below
- 6-8 ft butcher paper
- 50 grams Kosher Salt
- 50 grams Coarse Black Pepper
- 12 grams onion powder
- 12 grams granulated garlic
- 5 grams cayenne pepper
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Add the rub ingredients into a bowl and mix. Set aside. Make sure to weigh the ingredients. As you want equal parts salt and pepper by weight not volume.
-
Mix 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce with 3 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake well. Set aside.
-
Trim the brisket removing most of the thick fat around the point. Then trim the fat cap so that it is about 1/4 inch thick.
-
Lightly dust the brisket with the rub. Trust me a little goes a long ways. Let the brisket sit out and come up in temperature while you get your smoker to 225 degrees.
-
Once your smoker gets to 225 degrees add the brisket.
-
Spritz the brisket with the Worcestershire sauce mixture every 30-45 minutes.
-
Once the brisket develops a nice dark bark it is time to wrap. I found that this occurs somewhere in the 165-180 degree range. This occurred about 8 hours into the cook. It varies each and every time that I do it. Basically you want a nice bark that has a nice dark color. Something that screams eat me!
-
Wrap the brisket in about 6-8 feet of butcher paper. Make sure that the paper is not coated or waxed. You want to use clean butcher paper that is not treated in any way, shape or form. I found a nice roll of butcher paper at Sam's Club. You can pick this stuff up at most big box stores or restaurant supply stores.
-
Once the brisket is wrapped, place it back on the smoker until the brisket is probe tender. Basically you can slide a skewer easily through the brisket without any resistance. This occurred about 3-4 hours after I wrapped the brisket.
-
When the brisket is ready, remove it from the smoker. You will see that the paper absorbed some moisture but most of the moisture is in the brisket.
-
Basically the paper absorbed the moisture that would have made the bark soggy. The bark is amazing when you cook this way.
-
Slice the flat against the grain and then turn to a 45 degree angle and slice the fatty portion. Remember the fatty portion's grain runs perpendicular to the flat portion's grain.
Sounds very similar to the way I do mine. I use a peach/pecan pellet blend, and the rub is different, other than that I add beef stock and a bit of soy sometimes to the spritz (if the brisket is large, someone once told me it helps the flavours penetrate). And I’ve always been a temperature is king guy, and always cook till 203-205F which has yet to fail me.